Social media workers walk a dangerous line everyday. Everyday they walk into a battlefield not knowing what fate awaits them. One wrong word, one misinterpreted email, a delayed response to a blog comment; any of these things can start a fire storm that could ruin the reputation of the company or the social media worker.

You’ll notice that I haven’t used the word “marketer” yet. That’s because these dangers exist whether you work on internal or external communication efforts. Arguably, marketing holds the most visible if not more dangerous examples of collateral damage.

What makes social media so tricky is the fact that no one controls any aspect of it. How the community will respond to your efforts are just as big of a concern as how your management will respond to your successes or failures. While I may have the best of intentions and my campaign may be perfectly targeted I have no control over what the other 150,000 employees at HP are doing. I have no control over the product development teams on the PC side of the house. I can’t control what customer service representatives say or where there office is located.

The best thing you can do is be a conduit between the community and the company.

I truly believe that 90% of the social media workers out there are always trying to do the right thing. I believe that 9% are making bad choices not maliciously but just without a clear understanding of what they are doing and of course you do have 1% that are just manipulative and self serving.

Each day we approach our work with caution, trying to add value to the community we are engaging with, trying to do the right thing at the right moment. But you never see the blogger with a chip on their shoulder or worse, the friendly fire that turns your best laid plans into the “what not to do” case study.

We do what we do because we believe in it. We truly believe that what our companies offer can add real value to our customers. We believe that allowing customers and employees free communication amongst themselves and with each other will make the companies we work for better.

So what can you do to keep collateral damage to a minimum?

1. Do your homework
   • Before you launch any social media communications effort make sure that the targeted community is the right one.
   • Make sure the tools you are using are the right ones.
   • Make sure your product/service/message are really appropriate for social media
2. Get a guide
   • If you haven’t ever done this before and you don’t have an internal expert, find someone who can help you.
   • If you use a consultant make sure they’ve really done one before and not just blogged a lot. There are a lot of “experts” who can talk the talk but have never gotten out of their chairs to walk the walk.
   • If you are relying on the service provider of the platform or the media network who’s delivering the message, realize that while they may be experienced, ultimately they have a vested interest in your efforts; your money.
3. Be flexible
   • You have your goals and business objectives to laid out. You know what success looks like. If this is your first campaign realize that sometimes the best objective is gaining the experience.
   • If this is your first campaign the main goal should be to learn. When doing this I have always been pleasantly surprised and I’m convinced my second campaigns were infinitely better.
4. Be nimble
   • Nothing will go exactly as you wanted. There are too many variables, both good and bad.
   • Be prepared for the bad and react quickly. You’d be surprised how forgiving people can be if you act quickly.
   • Be prepared for the good and throw more effort into the unexpected good.
5. Be honest
   • If you make a mistake, admit it.
   • If you don’t know what you’re doing or what you should do next, ask.
   • If your goal is to sell product or collect leads, say so. There are people who probably want to buy your product just don’t try and trick them into it.

What am I missing? What are your best recommendations for navigating social media communications; internal or external?

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